To the brain through the nose
A joint research group of Professor Hongsu Choi (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, DGIST) and Professor Song Won Kim (St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul) has developed "Cellbots" based on human stem cell transfer technology (human nuclear transfer stem cells, hNTSC) for the delivery of goods to brain tissues by intranasal route bypassing the blood-brain barrier. The proposed method is superior in efficiency and safety to the traditional surgical method and is expected to open up new possibilities for the treatment of various neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and brain tumors in the future.
The use of stem cells in neurological practice is limited due to the inability to control accurate delivery to deep brain tissues, low efficiency due to a large loss when passing through the blood-brain barrier and the associated high cost of treatment. A magnetic powered micro robot based on hNTSC technology, which can be freely and reliably controlled inside the human body using an external magnetic field, can efficiently and safely deliver stem cells to the brain during intranasal administration.
Labeled with green fluorescent protein, "cell bots" penetrate into the organoid of the brain. The scale size is 200 microns.
Changing the magnetic field with the help of an external magnet drives the micro robot, providing efficient transportation in various physiological environments in vivo. The research team successfully delivered a micro robot into the brain tissue of live mice by intranasal injection. They managed to bypass the blood-brain barrier for the first time in the world. Reacting to the change in the strength and direction of the magnetic field, the micro robot reached the target in the cerebral cortex.
According to the authors, the achievement will overcome the limitations in the delivery of therapeutic agents to brain tissues associated with the blood-brain barrier.
Article S.Jeon et al. A Magnetically Powered Stem Cell‐Based Microrobot for Minimally Invasive Stem Cell Delivery via the Intranasal Pathway in a Mouse Brain is published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on Asia Research News: Microrobots for treating neurological diseases through intra-nasal administration.